On the sideline, just off the crimson SEC logo at the 35-yard line, Alabama football’s starting quarterback was chilling. Jalen Milroe had his helmet off and was holding it behind his back before a Crimson Tide staffer came to take it off his hands and to the bench.

As Milroe watched his team put the finishing touches on a 56-7 dismantling of Middle Tennessee State, teammate Justin Eboigbe came to talk with him and the two shared a laugh. Milroe looked relaxed as the clock ran out, before shaking hands, doing an interview with the SEC Network and jogging through the tunnel to the locker room.

He’d earned the smiles. After a long quarterback battle, Milroe performed well as the starter against the Blue Raiders.

“High expectations for Jalen,” wide receiver Jermaine Burton said after the game. “He’s a great dude, great leader. He practices great. He does everything he can to be a great leader to us and does just whatever he can extra.”

Milroe served as Bryce Young’s primary backup last season and led Alabama to a win in his lone start against Texas A&M. In that game though, the quarterback showed his game had flaws.

He turned the ball over three times. He also struggled to hit the deep passes.

Both problems weren’t issues against MTSU. Milroe played turnover-free football and threw three touchdown passes, hitting downfield receivers in stride each time on his way to 194 yards passing with 13 completions on 18 throws.

“Jalen, he’s always been a great thrower, honestly,” Burton said. “Like he’s always had an arm, he’s always had talent, he’s always had potential and it’s just glad to see him put it all together when it’s really needed.”

Burton was the recipient of one of Milroe’s touchdown passes, a 48-yard bomb that hit him in stride early in the third quarter. The first went to Isaiah Bond, a 47-yarder, and Milroe’s final throw for a score was a 29-yard pass to Amari Niblack.

Milroe had a solid performance on the ground as well. When center Seth McLaughlin rolled a snap to him on Alabama’s first drive, it looked like a sack was incoming.

Instead, the quarterback recovered, made a few moves and ran 21 yards for the first of his two touchdown runs. Even when he was being tackled, Milroe looked to be wrapping up the ball for dear life, avoiding the fumbles that were an issue in 2022.

“That was key,” Milroe said after the game. “When we go into preparation for every week, that’s something that we talk about as a unit.”

Milroe had to go through an extended quarterback battle to even get the chance to start against MTSU. Despite ESPN reporting earlier in the week that he’d get the not, he was listed as one of four possible starters on the depth chart distributed pregame in the press box, along with Tyler Buchner, Ty Simpson and Dylan Lonergan.

Milroe and Simpson were the two candidates early in the offseason, but Saban and new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees felt the need to bring in Buchner from Notre Dame to add an arm to the battle. Saban said it would take one of the signal-callers to separate themselves and force him to give them the starting role.

After the game, the head coach praised the quarterback who evidently did that.

“I thought Jalen did a good job,” Saban said. “I think he’s had a good fall camp, I thought he played well in both scrimmages. I think he’s more confident, doing a good job in the passing game.”

Saban has made it abundantly clear that the MTSU game isn’t the end of the quarterback battle. If Milroe struggles, starting next week in a highly anticipated battle with No. 11 Texas at Bryant-Denny Stadium, it could lead to others getting their opportunities.

Saban pointed to a few times where Milroe needed to check out of a play and didn’t The quarterback himself knew there were some things to clean up, though he wasn’t specific after the game.

Still, Saban knows the experience was valuable.

“Experience is basically the accumulation of the things that you learn from the mistakes that you make,” Saban said. “That’s what experience is, and I think as he continues to develop and gain experience, he’s going to play better and better.”

Milroe was asked after the game what he thought he did best compared to his efforts last season. He echoed Saban.

“Looking in the mirror, just constantly wanting to improve,” Milroe said. “And that’s key for every person that tries to be successful. Trying to took in the mirror and try to build every day. That’s the biggest thing I did.”

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